LAWS OF LINCOLN UNIVERSITY. 



LAWS 



/ 



OF 







" 



By the Act of Incorporation, the Board of Trustees consists 
of twenty-one members, chosen by the Presbytery of New 
Castle, and empowered by the Charter " to take and hold for 
themselves and their successors, for the use and objects of the 
corporation" property " of whatever kind." The special object 
of this corporation is to provide facilities for the education of 
Young Men of Color in the Sciences, in the Classics, and in 
Christian Theology. For the promotion of this object, the 
Board of Trustees, duly elected by the said Presbytery of New 
Castle, and assembled in Philadelphia on the fifth day of Sep- 
tember, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, do ordain the follow- 
ing laws, designating the officers of the Board, defining their 
duties aud responsibilities, and appointing the agencies neces- 
sary to give effect to the object of the Corporation. 

CHAPTER I. 
Of the Board of Trustees. 

1. The officers of the Board shall be a President, a Secretary, 
and a Treasurer. 

2. The President is the executive officer of the Board, and 
to him is committed the general superintendence of the inter- 
ests and reputation of the University. He shall have power to 
convene the Board at his discretion; and at the request in writ- 
ing of any three of the Trustees, it shall be his duty to call a 
meeting of the Board; provided that a notice, in writing, be sent 



u a % % % t 

to all the Trustees, at least ten days before the date fixed for 
such meeting. And no business shall be transacted at any 
meeting called for a specified purpose, except that stated in the 
call. 

3. The Secretary shall keep a full and fair record of the pro- 
ceedings of the Board. He shall also conduct such correspond- 
ence as the Board may direct. It shall be his duty to notify 
the Presbytery of New Castle of any vacancy occurring in the 
Board, and propose to the Presbytery such nominations as the 
Board may direct. 

4. The Treasurer shall receive from the appointed agents of 
the Board, and from all contributors to the endowment of the 
University, all monies, bonds, notes, titles, interests, or other 
assets intended for the general purposes, or permanent endow- 
ment of the University, (except when the donors may make 
other and special provision.) He shall keep them safe, and 
hold them and the income arising from them subject to the 
order of the Board. He shall make a report in balance sheet 
to the Board annually at the annual meeting in June; which 
report shall be entered upon the Minutes of the Board. He 
shall embody in this report a statement of the general condition 
of the real estate, and other assets of the University. The 
Treasurer shall be required to give bonds for the faithful dis- 
charge of his duties, and may receive a stipulated compensation. 

5. The Board of Trustees shall meet every year in the Uni- 
versity Buildings, at the Commencement, on the third "Wednes- 
day in June, and on the third Wednesday in January. Other 
meetings may be held on adjournment. 

6. If the President of the Board be absent, a President pro 
tern, shall be chosen to preside over the meeting. 

7. As often as it may be deemed necessary the Board of 
Trustees shall appoint an Investing Committee, which shall con- 
sist of five members of the Board including the President. 

8. It shall be the duty of this committee to examine into the 
securities of the property of the corporation, and to receive 
from the Treasurer, or from other sources, all sums of money, 
bonds, or assets of whatever kind, appertaining to the endow- 
ment of Scholarships, Professorships, or Departments of 
Science, Literature or Theology, and to make permanent and 
secure investment of the same, and neither the principal nor 
interest arising from these investments shall be diverted from 
the object set forth in the Preamble to these laws. 

9. The order of business at the annual meeting in June shall 
be 

1. Reading the minutes of previous annual and all interven- 
ing meetings. 



3 

2. Annual reports, and reports previously ordered. 

3. Election of officers of the Board. 

4. Appointment of committees. 

5. Election of Professors and Tutors. 

6. Conferring of Degrees. 

7. General business. 

10. All committees, unless ordered to report at some specified 
time, shall report at the next regular meeting after their ap- 
pointment. 

11. The Officers of the Board shall be elected annually by 
ballot at the annual meeting in June. Whenever any vacancy 
shall occur in the membership of the Board, by resignation, or 
otherwise, the Board may nominate to the Presbytery of New 
Castle suitable persons to be elected in their place. 

12. The commencement exercises of the University shall 
take place on the last Wednesday in June. Every student, who 
shall have attended the prescribed course of study, or who shall 
have been regularly admitted to an advanced standing in the 
classes, and who, upon final examination, shall have been ap- 
proved by the Faculty, may be admitted by vote of the Board 
to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 

13. On the day of commencement the candidates for the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts, shall perform such exercises as shall 
be assigned them, and no candidate refusing to perform such 
exercisj, shall receive a diploma. 

14. Every Alumnus of the University, who shall have de 
voted himself to literary or scientific pursuits, and who shah 
have demeaned himself in a worthy manner for three years after 
his graduation, may be admitted by vote of the Board to the 
degree of Master of Arts. 



CHAPTER II. 
Of the Faculty. 

1. The Faculty of the University shall consist of the Presi- 
dent, Professors, and Tutors. 

2. A majority of the acting members, when convened accord- 
ing to the laws of the University, shall constitute a quorum for 
the transaction of business. 

3. Every matter brought before the Faculty, shall be decided 
by vote; and the President of the Faculty when he is present 
shall have the privilege of voting upon all questions that come 
before the Faculty, and also of giving a casting vote, when 
without this there would be a tie. 



4. The Faculty shall keep a Book of Records, and appoint 
a clerk, who shall enter in said book a fair statement of all their 
proceedings : which book shall at all times be open to the in- 
spection of the Board of Trustees, and shall be laid before the 
Board at the semi-annual meetings of the Board, and shall re- 
main the property of the corporation. ~No act passed by the 
Faculty which is not recorded in the Book of Records shall be 
regarded as valid. 

5. The Faculty is responsible to the Board of Trustees for the 
full execution of all laws of the University relating to the Fac- 
ulty, and for the faithful instruction of the students. 

6. The Faculty shall examine all applicants for admission to 
the classes of the University, judge of their qualifications, and 
assign their exercises. 

7. The Faculty is empowered to preserve order among the 
students, and to exercise discipline over them. For this pur- 
pose they may cite any student before them; and they may re- 
quire the attendance of any students as witnesses, if necessary. 

8. It shall be the duty of the Faculty to prepare blanks for 
circular reports, to the end that the parents and guardians of the 
students may be informed of their deportment, course of stud- 
ies, and relative grade. 

9. At the semi-annual meeting of the Board in June, the 
Faculty shall report to the Board of Trustees, the progress of 
the students in their studies, and recommend for the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts such as have completed to the satisfaction of 
the Faculty the prescribed course of study. 

10. They shall prepare and cause to be published annually a 
catalogue of the University, embracing the names of the Trus- 
tees, and officers of the Board, the Faculty, and the students, 
together with an Appendix containing the course of studies and 
the terms of charge as the same shall have been fixed in accord- 
ance with the laws of the University. 

11. At the beginning of each session, and as much oftener 
as to the President may seem expedient, there shall be a meet- 
ing of the Faculty for the purpose of assigning to each instruc- 
tor his part in the instruction of the University: but the Profes- 
sors, severally, shall always have the branches of science which 
they profess included in their parts of distribution. 

12. The Faculty shall appoint one of their own number Libra- 
rian, and shall enact all necessary laws and regulations for the 
management of the Library. 

13. No persons except the members of the Faculty, and the 
students, shall consult the Library, or take books from it, with- 
out special permission from the President. 

14. The Librarian shall report annually in writing to the 



iBoard of Trustees as to the condition increase - and wants of the 
Library, and may make suggestions for the more efficient man- 
agement thereof. 

15. The Faculty shall appoint one of their own number who 
shall inspect the Buildings once a month to see if any waste has 
occurred, and in case any repairs are needed, to report the same. 
In all cases where damage has occurred to the buildings of the 
University, by the fault of a student, the President shall cause 
the damage to be repaired at the expense of the student. 
Whenever the immediate repair of any damage is necessary, 
the President shall order such repair to be made; but this clause 
shall not be interpreted to authorize the erection of new build- 
ings, or the enlargement of those already erected. 

CHAPTER HI. 
Of the Pkesident. 

1. The President shall preside over the deliberations of the 
Faculty, assemble them whenever he may deem it necessary, 
or when requested to do so by any two of the professors, and 
lay before them such matters relative to the University as may 
demand their attention and carry into execution their decisions. 

2. The President of the Faculty shall preside at the annual 
commencement, and confer upon the students and other per- 
sons the degrees which shall have been authorized according 
to the charter of the Board. 

8. He shall see that prayers are made with the students, 
morning and evening, and that public worship is celebrated 
with them on the Lord's Hay. He shall also give the students 
a course of instruction in the evidences, principles and duties 
of the Christian religion. 

4. He may be present at the recitation of any class in the 
University. 

5. In case of the absence or resignation of the President, or 
of his removal by death, or of his ceasing from his functions 
from any cause, the Senior professor shall discharge his duties 
until his successor shall be appointed. 

6. At every regular meeting of the Board, the President of 
the Faculty shall present a report upon the condition of the 
University in all departments committed to the Faculty; he shall 
present the Book of Records for examination ; and unless a vote 
to the contrary shall be passed, all regulations established by 
the Faculty, and recorded in the Book shall be considered as 
having the approbation of the Board, and shall continue in 
force until reversed by the Faculty, or by the Board. 



CHAPTER IV. 
Of- the Professors. 

1. The Professors shall be responsible for the faithful in- 
struction of the students, in those departments of Science and 
Literature which they shall severally profess. 

2. Each Professor shall have oversight of the instruction in 
his own department in all the classes. 

3. Each Professor shall have the right to choose his own Text 
Books; but no Text Book obnoxious to the Faculty shall be 
used in the classes. 

4. The Professors shall, severally, be responsible to the Board 
of Trustees for the preservation of the apparatus and specimens 
belonging to their respective departments. 

CHAPTER V. 

Of Tutors. 

1. It shall be the duty of the Tutors to assist the Professors 
in the instruction of the classes, and to perform such other ser- 
vices as may be assigned them by the Faculty. 

2. To the Tutors is specially committed the preservation of 
order and decorum in the college edifices. 

3. The Tutors shall visit the rooms of the students daily, and 
shall carefully note all delinquents and absentees, that they may 
be dealt with as the Faculty may decide. 

4. The Tutors shall attend prayers in the chapel, and shall 
officiate as the President may direct, and shall teach a Bible 
class*, or perform such duties on the Sabbath as may be assign- 
ed them. 

CHAPTER VI 

Of Students. 

1. No person shall be admitted to the classes of the Univer- 
sity but by a vote of the Faculty. 

2. Every applicant for admission must furnish evidence of 
good moral character, and if from any Academy, or other Col- 
lege, or University, a certificate of honorable dismission from 
its President or Principal. 

3. The President, or a Professor to be appointed by the Fac- 
ulty, shall keep a matriculation book, in which every student, 
within thirty days after admission into the college, shall sub- 



scribe his name and address, and also the name and address 
of his father or guardian, and a pledge of submission to all the 
laws of the University. 

4. To prevent excuses arising from ignorance of the laws of 
the University, every student shall receive a printed copy of 
them at his admission. 

5. The Faculty shall receive no student into the University, 
unless satisfactory provision shall have been made for his 
support. 

6. The Faculty shall present to the Board of Trustees, at 
the annual meeting in June, a schedule of particulars covering 
the necessary expenses of the students, which if approved, or 
as modified by the Board, shall be the yearly charge for every 
student until otherwise ordered. 

7. No student shall, either in vacation or term time, board or 
lodge in any tavern or private residence near the University 
without special permission of the Faculty. 

8. The rooms designed for the students shall be assigned to 
them by the President. 

9. No student shall remove from one room to another, nor 
shall any student put up or take down any fixtures in his room, 
without permission from the Faculty. 

10. No student shall occupy a room in the University build- 
ings in vacation, without special 'permission from the Faculty. 
No student shall pass beyond the immediate vicinity of the 
University grounds during term time without permission from 
the President, or in his absence from one of the Professors. 

11. The hours of study, recitation, and all matters concern- 
ing the government and instruction of the students shall be 
regulated by the Faculty. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0Sl ""300 426 4 < 




